College Prepares for Arrival of Students

It is late August in Pippa Passes, Kentucky, and the campus of Alice Lloyd College is alive and expectant with a special kind of feeling: change. It’s not just that there is the hint of autumn in the thick, deep forests that surround the College; no, this change is much more important and far more exciting. The fall semester of 2012 will witness one of the largest crops of new students to ever venture onto the banks of Caney Creek. That’s over two hundred Appalachian young people, all of them dreaming of a better future. All of them capable of leading an entire region.

This is the hope of ALC. This is our great mission. We strive to seek out those young men and women who have the intelligence and the passion to lead, who will accept the opportunity to earn their education through hard work in and out of the classroom, and who will remain in this place, in these mountains, so that they may be the answer to the problems we face.

Appalachian people helping Appalachian people.

Alice Lloyd College is a small college, located in a remote area of eastern Kentucky. You will find no city streets, shopping malls, or tall buildings; but, you will find a campus rich in natural beauty and an environment conducive to learning and growing, a place removed from the constant movement and distractions of life in “the big town.” Our campus is uniquely Appalachian, having been built in a valley, into the very mountainsides. And, with God’s grace, we have labored all summer long in an effort to make our campus the best it can be for this new class of ALC Eagles and for those who are returning.

ALC's Campus in Summertime

“God has really blessed us,” President Joe Stepp said. “We’ve had the ability to work on fourteen different projects, which will greatly improve the College and serve to beautify our campus.”

The projects are wide-ranging. There are the smaller, “campus upkeep” tasks of landscaping and blacktopping and roof repairing. (Carrick Hall, one of ALC’s female dorm facilities, received a brand-new roof this summer.) Then, there are the much more ambitious ones, the projects that have been years in the making, and the ones for which the College has relied on its faithful donors and the contributions of its alumni to be able to achieve.

The McGaw Library and Learning Center has been given a complete facelift. The library, which is the heart of any college campus, has received some much-needed attention, and the entire second floor has been renovated. The College’s Learning Center has been expanded to include a seminar room for classes and presentations, two research rooms, a research technology lab, and new offices; the college library now has a separate library room for the June Buchanan School, and the much-loved Appalachia Room has also gotten a makeover. It’s been a long time coming, and the College is thrilled to be able to unveil a new and improved library to its students.

McGaw Library

“The changes we’ve made have been in conjunction with the beginning of ALC’s entrepreneurial program,” said David Johnson, ALC’s Vice President of Business Affairs. “Our library will be used for collaborative learning for both students and the community to promote entrepreneurship. We’ve even moved in new furniture that is geared towards facilitating group and private study. We’re very proud of what we’ve done with it, and we’re eager to start showing it off.”

Another building on campus that has seen significant improvements this summer is Lilly Memorial Hall, one of our women’s dormitories. Workers have created a completely new main lobby and laundry room. The residence hall has also received new furniture and cabinet tops, and study areas have been created for its residents. Along with what was a two-year project of renovating the dorm’s bathrooms, the College has installed new flooring in Lilly – all new, synthetic tile carpeting that will be a major improvement to the women’s dorm rooms. The entire facility has also been freshly painted. But the changes don’t stop there. There are already plans to build a better balcony and a large gazebo or shelter just outside the dorm for female residents to enjoy.

Even with all of the hard work transpiring on campus, ALC still hasn’t forgotten its Caney Scholars. Most of these ALC graduates live in Caney Cottage while they attend classes at the University of Kentucky. These students have seen many improvements made to their living quarters. This two-year project, which began in the summer of 2011, has seen the foundation of Caney Cottage be completely redone, the renovation of all dorm rooms and bathrooms, new flooring, a new roof, and soon, brand-new furniture. It will be an excellent and comfortable living space for those students who wish to pursue an advanced degree.

ALC has recently been given the go-ahead from Frankfort to build a new athletic facility near campus. This building will be located on Menifee Huff Drive, which is the road leading to ALC’s baseball and softball fields. The facility will be used for various team practices, involving many sports. The goal is to free up our main athletic facilities for intramurals and other sports-related activities. To go along with this building a new tennis court will be erected near the entrance to campus.

The College has been very ambitious, and it is our hope to continue to improve the campus for current and future students. More plans are in the works to expand faculty housing (ALC has already added one house and two duplexes), and there’s even talk of a Starbucks® moving into Miss Irma’s Café!

Change is a good thing, especially when you can’t wait to see what the future holds in store for Alice Lloyd College.

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